The party wakes early the next morning to the nervous stirrings of Sylvester, and the sound of distant howling. It is cold and drizzling. The group breaks camp and heads back up the road. The sound of rustling, slurping, and tearing is heard in the vicinity of the hidden bodies. Davros, investigating more closely, sees in the gloom, just partly visible, long sinuous bodies writhing and thrashing among the remains of the dead bandits. He moves away undetected and wisely leaves the mysterious creatures to their feast.

Although distant howls continue to be heard through the dim light of morning, no trouble comes of it.

That afternoon, still on the road, the band of travelers detects the sound of horses approaching. While most of the group hides in the woods, Sartan stays in the road. Shortly, a cart drawn by two draft horses comes into view around the corner. It is driven by a man named Roland, who is hauling granite counter tops and stone tiles from the Shadowfurst Stoneyard to a customer in Stilport. He is accompanied by a stern town guard. The suspicious party members hiding in the woods do not escape Roland’s notice, and they eventually reveal themselves. Roland is friendly despite the suspicions, but the guard is all business and is clearly unhappy with the situation. Nevertheless, the exchange goes without incident. Roland tells the party that he is aware that the mayor’s daughter is missing, and makes mention of her brutish boyfriend who works at the Stoneyard. The party warns Roland of the possibility of bandits and weird creatures on the road ahead, and with that, they go their separate ways.

Arriving in the tiny rest stop hamlet of Duskhaven, the traveler’s encounter a fracas in the courtyard of the Duskhaven Den. Two recent arrivals (a large barbarian and a little halfling) are having words with a woman who beseeches them for help. A small crowd of locals observes as the two travelers angrily brush her off, saying they don’t have time or interest in dealing with a crazy woman. They turn and walk toward the Inn and the woman turns her attention to the party. She is Avita Ploughman, and her hired man Dougal has gone missing after investigating the deaths of livestock out near the abandoned barn on her large property. She is looking for someone to help her find him. She offers to pay a small sum, and the party agrees to accompany her to her farm.

Out in the far reaches of her sizable property, they find evidence of the slaughtered livestock. In fact, one of the creatures is not quite dead. A dead bull gets to its feet and charges the party – goring Cycek and trying to lasso others with its dangling intestine. They manage to kill the beast and then proceed to the barn. There, they are attacked by large, black, vulturelike creatures that flap down from the caved-in roof to claw and bite them. These creatures too are vanquished.

Inside the barn, the party finds rubble and debris, as well and a number of tools, barrels, and a broken down cart. In the far corner, they find a hatch in the floor. They very cleverly place a heavy barrel of manure upon it to keep anything from coming out. While exploring, they note that while part of the structure seems to be typical rustic stone barn construction, some of the walls seem to be ancient, solid stone, similar to ruins they have seen in the vicinity of their recent travels. Mishok remarks that it seems to of Dwarvish construction.

Somewhat beaten up from the evening’s battles, and having been on the road for nearly two days, they decide the spend the night in Avita’s home, before returning to investigate the barn further in the morning.